Golf bags and other devices for carrying golf clubs are available in many designs which range from simple cylindrical tubes to complicated devices having individual receptacles for each club and wheels for rolling the clubs during transporting them rather than carrying them. Devices for carrying golf clubs should satisfy many criteria to be most useful.
In addition to simply holding the clubs and providing a means for transporting them, devices for carrying golf clubs should hold the clubs in an array so that selection of individual clubs is easy, and it is not necessary to sort through all of the clubs in the device to find the one that is desired. In the past some separation of clubs has been made by placing dividers in the upper opening of the bag so that three layers of clubs can be formed. Usually the upper layer is for the golf clubs known as woods, the middle layer contains the golf clubs known as long irons, and the lower layer contains the golf clubs known as short irons. Although arranging golf clubs in three groups greatly relieves the problem, some sorting through of the clubs is still required to find the one that is desired.
Devices for carrying golf clubs should protect the clubs by having means to prevent them from banging together and to avoid erosion of the grips of the golf clubs when individual clubs are slid into and out of the golf club carrying device while others remain within the device. Protecting the grips of golf clubs has been accomplished by using individual plastic tubes within a golf bag or by having separate pockets in which to carry each club, but banging together of the club heads remains a problem. Although irons are not marred as readily as woods, the banging together of iron clubs does mar the finish. Transporting golf clubs when they are in use, as when being transported around a golf course, presents problems in erosion and rough contact between the clubs. However, transporting golf clubs as airline luggage produces severe problems in destruction in that such baggage is handled roughly and is frequently not oriented with vertical as it would be when in use on a golf course. When golf club carrying devices are employed as luggage for carrying golf clubs from one point to another as in airline baggage, it is also a problem to maintain the clubs within the carrying device if the carrying device is turned upside down with respect to its normal orientation. The problem of transporting golf clubs is normally solved by having an auxiliary bag that fits over the top of the clubs and is connected to the main bag with snap fasteners or the like. This means of maintaining all of the clubs together is so notoriously unsatisfactory, however, that airlines frequently require the auxiliary bag to be taped securely to the main bag to prevent separation of the two.
Golf club carrying devices should be lightweight so that they can be moved readily and carried long distances, they should be comfortable to carry or to roll, and they should have general convenience items associated with them, such as compartments or pockets for storage of balls, tees, rain gear and the like.